Carousel Screen printing machines are used for screen printing of garments and utilise a plurality of fixed print heads beneath which are positioned a plurality of garment support pallets which are moveable from one print head to the next. Each print head has a carriage mounted for reciprocal movement to move the flood bar and squeegee bars over the screen.
The flood bar and squeegee blades forming the print head in screen printing machines are mounted on a moving carriage with the flood bar down in the flood stroke and the squeegee down in the print stroke. The carriage is supported at both ends in a print frame and moves back and forth along the print frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,950 discloses a centrally mounted print arm supporting a central portion of the carriage for reciprocal movement along the print arm. The carriage is pneumatically driven along the arm. An alternative to pneumatic drives is electric motor driven drive belts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,877 discloses an electric drive with a the drive belt moving in a vertical plane. To tension the belt an additional adjustable pulley is usually provided.
As the design of the rotary screen printing machines evolve ease of operation and reduction of fabrication costs are of increasing importance. Another desirable attribute is the ease with which screens and print carriage assemblies can be serviced and replaced.
It is an object of this invention to provide a print arm that addresses these needs.